Fathers do influence their children. Abbie Hoffman was arrested 53 times, lived underground for six years and never ran out of causes. When he died some years ago, at 52, he was remembered by many as the last yippie of a generation that has spawned its share of people in this vein.

In an unpublished interview with freelance writer Craig Unger, Hoffman said, speaking of the Boston Tea Party, that "the great changes in American society are initiated in the streets and then are institutionalized." Still, he confessed that "after you've gone to your 10,000th movement meeting, you get a little jealous of people like Tom Hayden. I wouldn't mind having some money. I'm broke." But the Hoffman spirit lives on. Of his youngest son, America, then only 18, he said, "He's been kicked out of class seven times already. I'm very proud of him."

Whether you liked Abbie Hoffman or not, whether you are a natural revolutionary or someone who wants things to remain as they are, we all agree that children learn far more from their parents than just what their parents intentionally teach them. Our attitudes can become fixed, for good or ill, by what we witness our parents’ attitudes to be. We can work this to the good of our children, and to the glory of god, by working hard to show our children the proper attitude toward things in life, and not just telling them what they need to do.

As I grow older, I am always amazed at how many of my friends, who disagreed with the way their parents lived, or couldn’t stand their politics as they grew up, have now come to the point where they live the same way, and hold the same political views that their parents did. Not me, of course, but a lot of folks do!

2 Kings 17:41 (KJV);
“So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.”

I read this little story with a moral, and thought you would enjoy it, as well as learn from it.

A mother and father decided to use psychology in raising their children. For example, at bedtime they would say to the children, "Would you like to take your doll to bed or your teddy bear to bed?" You see, the beauty of this is that in either case the child is choosing to go to bed. But the whole system collapsed when the three- year-old, who was never allowed to go out after supper, said to her parents one evening, "Do you want me to go out the back door or should I go out the front?"

1 Peter 5:1-4 (KJV);
“The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”

The moral of the story is that our children are far more likely to learn what we do than they are to learn what we say. The scripture expands this into the adults that we may influence by our example as well.

Of course, we are to guard our language, and take control of our tongues to see that the things we say are pleasing to the Lord. Beyond that, however, we must be even more careful of what we do! People will be much more impressed, for good or for ill, by our actions than by our words. Don’t believe it? Ask the next ten people you meet to tell you something about Jimmy Swaggart, or Jim Bakker, or Jessie Jackson. I’ll bet that more people will tell you what they did than will ever remember what these men said! Actions do, indeed, speak louder than words.

Yesterday's: People become like the focus of their attention. So Johnny says "I will never be like Sam, his focus of attention is on Sam, to make sure his actions don't ever match Sam's. Trouble is Johnny picks up Sam's attitudes and mentality and becomes like Sam after all.

Shetland's proverb on the subject: "The auld cock crows, and the young'een learns."

Today:
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
James 2:18
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

The old saying goes "When all is said and done, a lot more is said than done."

It's amazing how the real education comes from what is caught, more than taught.

A skeptic promised British preacher Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910) that he would attend his church for four Sundays on which Maclaren would be presenting the main tenets of Christianity. The skeptic listened intently to Maclaren's sermons.
After the fourth message he presented himself for church membership, saying he had received Christ as his Savior.
Maclaren was delighted and could not resist the impulse to ask which of the four sermons brought him to this decision.
The skeptic replied, "Your sermons, sir, were helpful, but they were not what finally persuaded me."
He said that after church one Sunday as he was helping an elderly lady on a slippery walk, she looked up into his face and said, "I wonder if you know my Savior, Jesus Christ. He is everything in the world to me. I would like you to know Him too."
The skeptic said, "That remark sent me home, where on my knees I found Christ for myself."

That story has a particular meaning for me, because when I was saved, there had been many people praying for me, and I thank God for every one of them! At the actual time of my salvation, however, I was at home alone, like the skeptic in this story.

I think there is something so stone cold and hard in the heart of an atheist that they cannot show the ‘weakness’ that is necessary for salvation to any living human being.
Keep this in mind when you witness to such a person; do not be discouraged when they do not seem to let their guard down for a second, because their salvation will probably come when there are no witnesses to it!

The idea that one must walk down the aisle of a church, and confess Jesus Christ as their savior at the altar in front of the congregation is simply not true.

Philippians 2:12-13 (KJV);
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

Amen, Terry;
I've seen and heard the same thing happening many times. Present the Gosple in its simplicity, plant the seed, and leave God to do the growing.
A simple question some guy asked countless GI's who were on R&R in Australia during WWII brought many to Christ: He was very unpreposessing as he asked

"Pardon me, I hope you don't mind my asking, but if you were to die tonight, where would you spend eternity? Would it be in heaven or in hell? Because the Bible says it must be in one place or the other. Thank you, sir, for your time."

Then he would walk off. Many servicemen went back, looked up their chaplains, and asked about how to become a Christian.

1 Cor. 3:6 "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth."

Mark 4:26-29 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

For today, let's jet away top Switzerland where we find a young boy living with his grandfather on the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps. Often, just to hear the sound of his own voice echoing back to him, he would go outside, cup his hands around his mouth, and shout, "Hello!" Up from the canyons the reply reverberated, "Hello ... hello ... hello ... hello ...." Then he would call out, "I love you ... I love you ... I love you ... I love you ... I love you ...."
One day the boy seriously misbehaved and his grandfather disciplined him severely. Reacting violently, the child shook his fist and screamed, "I hate you!" To his surprise, the rocks and boulders across the mountainside responded in kind: "I hate you ... I hate you ... I hate you ... I hate you ... I hate you ...." That’s the way it works in this life. Call it one of the immutable laws of human nature. We get in return exactly what we give. It all comes back. Incredible echoes mirror our actions to an emphatic degree, sometimes in greater measure than we give. The results are often embarrassing, or tragic. We all know “as you sow, so shall you reap”, but as with all truly great Bible doctrines, this one can be found over and over in God’s word; consider the following:

Luke 6:36-38 (All KJV);
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

Colossians 3:25;
“But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”

Behave yourself in such a way that you would enjoy being a friend to you, living next door to you, or working beside you everyday.

I read an old story about two unmarried sisters who had a terrible fight and stopped speaking to each other. both loved their small home, so neither wanted to move out. They continued to use the same rooms and sleep in the same bedroom. A chalk line divided the sleeping area into two halves, separating doorway and fireplace, so that each could come and go and get her own meals without trespassing on her sister's domain. In the black of night each could hear the breathing of the foe. For years they coexisted in grinding silence. Neither was willing to take the first step to reconciliation.

This is not the way we are to deal with our fellow man! Consider these verses:

Ephesians 4:31 (KJV);
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:”

Hebrews 12:15 (NCV);
“Be careful that no one fails to receive God’s grace and begins to cause trouble among you. A person like that can ruin many of you.”

And besides dealing well with our fellow man, how many people deal with God out of anger? How many act like these sisters, and hear him breathing at night, yet refuse to acknowledge him? How many see him throughout the day, but pretend He does not exist? I so regret all the wasted years in my life when I could see God, hear Him, follow His activity, yet out of stubbornness I refused to deal with him. Don’t be as pig headed as this preacher was; don’t waste another day of your life! Don’t spend another minute living in a world that is filled with his presence, but where you have drawn chalk-lines to keep yourself from interacting with him! Acknowledge Him today! He is waiting to talk to you - -

Thanks again, Terry. God's attitude: Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Today is All Saints Day. Every single day in the Catholic Church Calendar is designated to recognize one particular saint or another, but this day is unique in that it is for the recognition of all Saints, similar to the US having Presidents Day to honor all presidents. Tomorrow is All Souls Day, a day for special prayers for all the faithful departed. In many cultures the two days share the same customs.

Last night was All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, which merely meant the eve before All Saints Day. In spite of many of the Satanic rituals some have claimed were the source for Halloween activity, the true history of it is not evil at all, but is rooted in Church history.

Dressing up in scary costumes was, originally, a way of poking fun at the evil spirits. As Christians, we know they hold no power over us anyway. People dressed up to mock them.

The practice of Trick or Treat originated in the Middle Ages. The poor people would go around offering to pray for departed souls in return for food, the customary one being a small cake called a Soul Cake.

From those harmless beginnings, Halloween has grown into a celebration of unimagined proportions. Kids dress up and canvass the neighborhoods asking for candy, others terrorize neighborhoods playing tricks that range from humorous to real vandalism. And the Witches and Satanists have also gotten into the act. Right here in Houston County TN, a local Coven will meet on top of a cliff-sided bluff in the city, build a bonfire, and conduct their Satanic rituals with complete impunity.

In addition, every year brings a fresh crop of activity that some have engaged in with the intent of injuring or killing the little children that take part in this celebration.

For my part, I don't worry about it. We went to bed last night just like any other night. And today, I will not be praying for the departed; they are beyond the reach of prayers.

I think the activities of Halloween are much like music, dancing, drinking & other activities. They weren't sinful in their origins. But, Satan adopted and corrupted them in his attempt to make himself like the most high God.

Matthew 22:31-32: And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

That's one thing I think about when I hear people asking the public to pray for those who died in some disaster or other. As you say, if they are dead, whether saint or sinner, they are beyond the reach of prayers. The time to pray for them is while they are alive. We can thank God for their lives and work and other things after they are dead.

Thanks, guys!
Whatever God does, you can be sure that Satan will counterfeit it sooner or later! That old scum-bag just WILL NOT GIVE UP!

Today is another recognized day. On November 2nd in 1917, the following letter was written as a formal statement of British policy:
"Dear Lord Rothschild,
"I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet: 'His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country'.
"I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
"Yours sincerely
"Arthur James Balfour"

This became known as the Balfour Declaration. Thirty years later, this mandate was presented to the UN, and they approved it. The new fledgling state of Israel was subsequently attacked by their Arab neighbors. During that short and decisive war, Israel captured sufficient territory to allow them to defend themselves against future aggression. It took an additional thirty years before an Arab country recognized Israels right to exist; a peace treaty was signed in 1978 at the Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt. The rest of the Arab world responded with anger, and promptly broke ties with Egypt, even moving the Arab League headquarters out of that country.

This land, and MUCH more, was given to the Jews by God:Genesis 17:8 (KJV);
“And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

There is no controversy over who owns this land. The problem is that the Arabs do not recognize that fact, and actually believe they have the power to change it through force of arms. I have confidence that this will never happen.

I believe you are right, Jack. Over the centuries, God has indeed judged His people and removed them from their promised land - but it was a temporary punishment. I do not anticipate such to happen again -

For today, a quote from the book The Grace of Giving, written by Stephen Olford:

“In the days of the American Revolutionary War there lived at Ephrata, Pennsylvania, a Baptist pastor by the name of Peter Miller who enjoyed the friendship of General Washington. There also dwelt in that town one Michael Wittman, an evil-minded man who did all in his power to abuse and oppose this pastor. One day Michael Wittman was involved in treason and was arrested and sentenced to death. The old preacher started out on foot and walked the whole seventy miles to Philadelphia to plead for this man's life. He was admitted into Washington's presence and at once begged for the life of the traitor. Washington said, "No, Peter, I cannot grant you the life of your friend." The preacher exclaimed, "My friend, he is the bitterest enemy I have." Washington cried, "What? You've walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I will grant the pardon." And he did. And Peter Miller took Michael Wittman from the very shadow of death back to his own home in Ephrata -- no longer as an enemy, but as a friend.”

How many of us would walk 70 miles to save the life of an enemy that deserved death? I think most people would never dream of such a thing. I spoke to a lady who was taking a CPR class, and when they were discussing resuscitation of a drowning victim, she said that several professed Christians in the group said that they would do nothing to resuscitate a homosexual who had drowned. In fact, they said, if they were there WHILE the person was drowning, they would do nothing to save them from their fate. What a horrible reflection on ALL of us, that someone with that attitude would claim to be a Christian! Christ would certainly point out this person’s sinful ways, but he would not approve of us standing by and letting them die in their sins, assuring an eternity of separation from him!

Romans 12:19-21 (KJV);
“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

May God bless each one of us, and forgive the hardness of our hearts at times -

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